


Coping Catastrophes

by orphan_account



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2 The Second Part (2019), The Lego Movie 2
Genre: Angst, Angst to Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hospital scene, M/M, bar au, car crash, emmet doesn't like it, emmet has a motorcycle, emmet sees it, he cheats on emmet accidentally, rex doesn't get thanos snapped, rex gets drunk af, rex likes to drink, rex makes out with a stripper, strip club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-04-22 13:49:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22180999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Rex drinks to cope with pain. Emmet doesn't approve of it.
Relationships: Emmet Brickowski/Rex Dangervest, Remmex, Rexmet, Vestcest - Relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16





	Coping Catastrophes

**Author's Note:**

> Prepare for a cheating, drunk bastard.
> 
> Also, this one shot is kinda long (in my opinion).

Rex was one of the last people you would think of when you think of people who have limits. Ever since Emmet and Rex got together, Emmet restricted certain things from Rex. Such as, no late night drinking, getting high, going to strip clubs, smoking, and high limit gambling. The young man just wanted to stop Rex from doing things he deemed to be uncivil. 

Of course, Rex hates these limits, but it doesn’t mean that he can’t lie to Emmet to have some fun. Once a week, sometimes twice, Rex would use the excuse of work, or hang out with friends to get out of the house both shared. One some occasions, Rex would be so drunk that he would stay at a cheap hotel, and stayed until his hangover came to an end. He always said that he and his friends did an all-nighter. Emmet, being the naive man he is, trusted Rex’s words.

However, one night, Emmet stayed up late at night, waiting for his partner. Emmet didn’t have the best day at his construction job, so he figured that Rex would make his night.

Down at the strip club, Rex wasn’t drinking much. He could only go to that single strip club, since he had a friend who worked as a bartender, and he made his drinks the way Rex adored. Anyways, Rex wanted to drink so much that night, since on his small mission, he had to deal with some annoying ass, rich folk. The whole family was a bitch to Rex.

As Rex finished his second beer, he figured that he’d have to go home. Rex vividly remembered Emmet’s gloomy mood when he got home. The older man felt guilty for leaving the love of his life alone, but he also needed a break from constantly fighting and dealing with shitty people.

Rex composed his vest, his hair, and left the club. The loud music from inside slowly faded as he got out. Outside, 2 prostitutes waved at him. Quite frankly, he didn’t care. He didn’t even look at them, but only saw them through his peripheral vision. He got on his motorcycle, and drove home. 

Even if he was drunk, Rex could still drive well. Not the best driver, but not the worst. When he got home, he drove to the garage and locked his motorcycle in place. He would’ve placed it inside the Rexcelsior, but it was off in space, guarded by raptors. He couldn’t find land near his home to keep the huge ship parked at. 

Rex yawned, and threw his helmet to the side, not really caring. That night, Rex had forgotten to do something crucial.

He forgot to use mouthwash to get the smell of beer out of his breath.

Rex quietly opened the door inside the garage to go inside the living room. He took off his boots, and left them at the door, leaving him to walk barefoot. He didn’t want to wear him dino pajamas that night, so he decided to sleep in shorts, no shirt what-so-ever. 

He entered the bedroom the couple shared, and saw Emmet, curled up, with gloomy eyes. 

“About time…” Emmet mumbled, tiredly.

“Sorry hon, the boys and I lost track of time.” Rex replied. He made his way to his closet, and got his trademarked shorts.

Emmet was going to call his boyfriend, but held himself back. He waited for Rex to finish changing. 

Rex finished taking off his vest, undershirt, and pants. Once he was done putting on his shorts, he walked towards their bed. He got under the sheets, but sat up, his back leaning on the back side of the bed. 

“So… did you eat dinner yet?” Rex softly asked, breaking the silence. Emmet just nodded. He cuddled up near his toned boyfriend, but picked up the scent of beer. 

“Did you have a bad day?” Rex looked down and wrapped an arm around the adorable man. 

Emmet looked up, and the smell got stronger.  
“Yeah, co-workers were cranky as heck-” Emmet was cut off by Rex’s soft snore. The warmth, quiet atmosphere, and comfortable mattress he was sitting on lead him straight to sleep.

Rex’s drunk ass didn’t help him a bit. In fact, that made him even more tired. 

Emmet sighed. He slowly laid Rex down. Easier said than done, since all of his muscles made him heavy. Once Emmet had successfully laid Rex on his back and put their blanket over his body, Emmet took a small whiff of Rex’s breath. 

Beer. The scent of beer. 

‘He didn’t lie to me, did he?’ Emmet panicked internally. 

‘What else could he be lying about?! Ok, Brickoski, you’re probably just tired and mixing up smells!’ 

Stressed out, Emmet turned off the lamp on the side table and tried to sleep. A good 20 minutes passed of Emmet hugging Rex’s warm chest for him to finally sleep. 

\---

Since that night, Emmet became suspicious of Rex’s whereabouts. 

The next time Rex would leave, Emmet had a plan. He would attach a small tracking device to the back of Rex’s vest. You know, that one place in which if you have an itch there, none of your arms can reach it. He planned to clip it onto his vest when hugging, before he left.

\---

Anyways, it was a nice Saturday. Emmet got out of work early, and he rode home in the motorcycle that Rex gave him. It was a nice dark blue, with vibrant golden bolts on the sides. Sure, it wasn’t Emmet’s signature orange and blue, but he loved it either way. Emmet put on his helmet, and rode home. Even if his face was extremely adorable, he looked badass with his helmet, a black jacket, black pants, and his awesome ride. 

When he got home, he was relieved that Rex hadn’t arrived yet. Emmet realized that rex usually went out on Saturday evenings, so he had to prepare the small tracking device.

An hour passed, and Rex burst through the door. His vest, muddy, and boots, dirty as hell. His pants were clean, due to the protection of his leather chaps over his jeans. 

“Hi, Rex!” Emmet smiled as Rex took off his boots. 

“Hi, babe.” Rex grinned back, and he walked towards Emmet, who was sitting on the couch. Rex chastely kissed the younger man, and walked to their room. 

Rex got a black leather jacket, navy blue shirt with his signature green, “R”, some black jeans, his denim blue motorcycle shoes with a thin green stripe, black socks, and green boxers.. He rushed to the shower. Rex had a great adventure today, and wanted to finish his grand day by drinking and getting high.

Before Rex entered the bathroom, Emmet got in his way.

“What’s with all this clothing? Going out?” Emmet asked, raising a brow.

“Well, I’m going out with the gang. Why?” Rex replied. Emmet knew that it could have been a fib, but decided to play along.

“Can I go?” Emmet asked, “We haven’t gone out together for a long time.” Emmet knew that if Rex said no, he was even more suspicious.

“Nah, you won’t like it.” Rex simply stated. “Can I shower now?” He asked quickly, to avoid any further questions. 

Emmet glared at his boyfriend, but sighed in defeat soon after. He moved out of the way to allow Rex to enter.  
Before Rex closed the door, he added, “Listen, Em, we can go out tomorrow if you want. We can even messed around a bit if you’d like to~”

Emmet giggled, “I’d like that…”

Rex closed the door, and began to undress himself. He began to shower, and Emmet walked back to the living room. He had the small device in hand, and was ready to place it on Rex.

It felt like an eternity for Rex to finish showering, but eventually, he did. 

Alas, it was finally time for his plan to play into action.

\---

Rex got out of the shower, his hair damp, and the smell of his cologne, nice and fresh. 

“Are you gonna eat dinner here, Rex?” Emmet asked, before Rex left. 

“I’ll get some grub over there, you eat.” Rex replied, grabbing his keys from the kitchen counter. 

The older man was about to open the door that connected to the garage to get his motorcycle, but he heard his name being softly called by Emmet.

Rex looked back, guilt creeping up in his stomach. 

He walked back to Emmet who was on the couch, and kissed him passionately. It had been a long time since they both kissed deeply. 

Emmet broke the kiss for air.  
“Can I get a hug before you leave?” Emmet asked.

Rex smiled, “Of course you can, hon.” He opened his arms, waiting for Emmet to jump into them. 

Emmet rushed into Rex’s arms and he hugged him tightly. In that brief moment, Emmet clipped on the small device onto Rex’s shirt. Not on his vest as planned (since he didn’t put it on), but his plan would still work.

“Bye, Rexy. Have a fun night.” Emmet said with a soft, caring tone. It put Rex in an even guiltier position. He hated lying to his boyfriend, but he also wanted some time to have fun and to cope with trauma and personal issues. 

“Bye Emmet…” Rex tenderly replied, slowly closing the door.  
Rex closed the garage door, and looked at Emmet’s bike. 

The bike he gave him for their 1 year anniversary. 

On that night, Rex wanted to drink so much, to get rid of guilt, and to end his day on a good note, which was having a numb mind.

Rex’s fingers drifted along the seat of Emmet’s bike. He sighed, and walked towards his navy blue and green bike. He didn’t wear his helmet, since his hair was still wet. It was better to dry it off in a ride, than to soak the memory foam in his helmet. He put his gloves and leather jacket on. He would’ve put on his sunglasses as well, but it was dark. He wouldn’t be able to see shit.

He opened the garage door and he turned on his motorcycle. He turned the accelerator, made his way out of the garage slowly. With the garage control, he closed the entrance and drove off.

Through the window, Emmet saw his boyfriend ride away. He got a small tablet from the bottom of the table, under their flat screen TV that was hung up on the wall. Emmet got a glass of water and sat down on the couch, checking the small tablet that tracked Rex’s location. He watched in distraught as Rex’s location got closer to a club. Not just any club, but a strip club.

Emmet felt his heart drop as he saw the tracker show that Rex had stopped at the parking lot of the club, and he walked into the building. 

The waterworks began. Emmet sobbed, finally know where Rex was truly going.

Instead of waiting for Rex, he recorded the location on his phone, got his keys, garage control, and went to start up his motorcycle. It was a cold night, so Emmet went back inside, and changed. He took off his vest and blue long sleeve. Instead, he just put on a grey shirt, black sweater, and denim jeans. 

He rushed to the garage, and cranked up his motorcycle. Emmet opened the garage door, drove out, then closed it. He had his helmet on, but his eyes were watery as hell. Still, somehow, he managed to keep driving until he got to the strip club. He locked his motorcycle right next to Rex’s, and left his helmet there. He wiped the tears away, and walked inside.

The first thing Emmet saw was a girl in the entrance. She had a push up bra, which made her breasts way bigger.

Emmet teared up even more, wondering if Rex would enjoy this.

He walked into the club, and the first thing his saw was Rex, sitting near the bartender’s counter, making out with a stripper.

-

Rex arrived at the club, and locked his motorcycle outside. He walked in, guilty, ashamed, and tired. He took a seat in front of the bartender. He fixed his hair into his messy style, while waiting for the bartender to finish up someone else’s order.

Once the bartender was done, he went up to a tired raptor trainer. 

“Hey Richard…” Rex tiredly stated, as he slumped down in an empty seat.

“Feelin’ like shit again?” Richard asked. 

“Just give me a margarita, extra tequila.” Rex asked. He didn’t even bother to make eye contact. 

Richard passed him the drink, “Enjoy, man.” He walked away to serve another guy.

Rex got his drink and just drank it all in one go. No matter how much it stung, he gulped it. He let it process down in his body, before he ordered three more shots. Every single one, he gulped down. Soon enough, he was completely woozy. He took off his leather jacket, showing off his muscles, unintentionally.

This caused a young stripper to come down, and walk towards Rex. 

She had a small chest, short, chocolate hair, but a big bust. Rex didn’t see that part though. Strangely enough, she looked like Emmet, just smaller. Hell, she was almost as adorable as the construction worker. To a woozy Rex, it was like Emmet was in front of him. 

Rex grabbed who he thought was Emmet, and kissed her passionately. The young lady didn’t hesitate, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

Rex carried her onto his lap, and both of them made out right then and there. Rex and that young woman kept moaning in their kisses.

To Rex, this young woman was Emmet in a white strap lingerie, resting on his lap, and both of them making out like never before. To everyone else in the bar, Rex was a player, able to gain the attention of strippers. In the background, other men raised their drinks and cheered Rex.

“Fuck yeah! Make that girl moan!” A heckler exclaimed.

“Make that ass shake, brother!” Another drunk bastard cheered.

Soon enough, both of them slowed down. The woman, caressing Rex’s abs. Rex was too spaced out to even notice what was going on. He cleared his eyes, and came to a horrible realization. 

Rex thought that his heterosexual urges had come out, which lead him to make out with a random woman. Soon enough, he connected the dots. 

The galaxy defender felt a huge wave of guilt, stupidity, and embarrassment come over him.  
The woman in front of him, however, was flustered and biting her lip.

Rex began to repeatedly apologize to the woman. She just laughed it off and kept telling him it was ok. As Rex began to explain himself, from the distance, Emmet saw it all.

-

The young master builder saw them kissing, now talking. He was paralyzed in shock He didn’t hear any part of their conversation, since the music in the club was playing over it, but could see guilt in Rex’s face.

At this point, he couldn’t even tell if the guilt was sincere. 

Emmet received a mix of strong emotions all at once, and he was almost at the breaking point. 

Tears ran down his face, as he leaned on a nearby wall. Waiters kept asking him if he was ok, but Emmet simply nodded. 

-

“It’s ok, sir. But even if you are drunk, that stunt is gonna cost you.” The woman said without remorse. She leaned her hip to the side, and rested one arm on it. She held her empty hand up towards her chest, waiting to get paid.

“Yeah.. Of cou-urse,” he slurred in response. He pulled out his wallet, and was going to give her 50$, but misread the numbers, and gave her a 20$ bill. Instead of putting the money in her hand, he missed and accidentally dug it into the middle of her breasts. 

She looked up at Rex, and giggled. 

“My, how cute! See ya around, boo!” She walked away, and blew a kiss towards Rex. The other strippers cheered her on and clapped. 

Rex stared at her with regretful eyes. As she met up with the other exotic dancers, they all winked at him. Rex wondered if his muscles were the ones that attracted her. He sighed and rotated his chair back towards the counter. 

Before he could ask for another shot, Rex heard his name called out by the last person he wanted to see that night.

-

Emmet cleared his blurry vision. The next thing he saw was Rex putting something in her bra, or in the crack of her breasts. He couldn’t tell exactly, but it was still connected towards her breasts. 

His eyes widened in shock as he saw the woman blow a kiss. 

‘Has Rex done this before with that bitch?!’ Emmet thought. He didn’t care about using inappropriate language at this point. He was so infuriated that if he had a gun at that point, he would’ve undoubtedly shot the woman. 

That was it. Emmet wanted to get his boyfriend’s attention, and find out the truth. He saw Rex rotate back towards the countertop, and found out that he was about to order something. 

“Rex Dangervest!!!” Emmet yelled, gaining the attention of everyone in the bar. The music was even lowered. 

“What the fuck are you doing?!!” The construction worker yelled, while walking towards the master breaker. He heard mumbling behind him, but felt no embarrassment what-so-ever. 

“Oh shit…” Rex mumbled, as his eyes widened in fear. 

Rex got out of his seat, and tried to walk as straight as he could. This drunk bastard held his arms out to try and hug Emmet. He just wanted to cry and apologize in his warm arms. 

Emmet, however, had other plans. Once they were about 2 feet apart, Emmet held his hand up.

He punched Rex’s face, as hard as he possibly could. Even if Emmet wasn’t nearly as strong as Rex, it was still one hell of a punch.

Rex fell back, in absolute pain. He hit his head on the cold floor of the club, and everyone else just stared. Some waitresses came to his aid. They lifted his head, and checked if he was alive or not.

Two security guards came through the entrance doors, and got a hold of Emmet.  
Both of them dragged the heartbroken man out. Emmet didn’t even try to fight them. Part of him just wanted to leave.

“I hate you, Dangervest, I hate you!!!,” Rex heard Emmet cry as he was dragged outside. 

Rex lifted himself up. He thanked the waitresses, and stood in the center of the club, trying to process what just happened. He was breathing heavily, and tried his best to prevent the tears from pouring down. 

Emmet was pushed to the street. He sniffed, and cleared his eyes, once again. He didn’t give a shit about his helmet. He just unlocked his motorcycle and powered it up. Emmet used all his strength to hold back his emotions. He didn’t want to have an absolute mental breakdown while driving. 

Inside the club, Rex heard mumbling. He knew everyone was judging his morality, but all he wanted to do was to make up with Emmet. His day started amazingly, but it all had to go downhill. 

“Good thing he has a slut here. At least she’ll show him more respect than that gay bastard,” a homophobic told his friends. His friends, however, weren’t fond of his comment. Unfortunately, Rex heard what he said, and snapped.

Rex turned around in an instant, and knocked the guy out with one solid punch. His head hit the table, and his head just layed there.

“Anyone else wanna say something?!” Rex yelled, with fiercity in his voice. 

Everyone else stayed quiet. The two security guys came back inside to deal with Rex.

“Don’t touch me,” Rex sneered, “I’ll take myself out.”

Rex left the club, and saw Emmet sitting on his own motorcycle, trying to relax. Rex’s anger converted into guilt and sadness. 

Emmet looked back at Rex, and furrowed his eyebrows. He drove out, and accelerated.

As Emmet drove away, Rex realized that both of them had a high chance of crashing. Emmet had watery eyes, so his vision was a blurry mess. He was also driving way above the speed limit. Rex was drunk as hell, so what he ended up doing was making himself throw up on the curb. 

He knew that by doing that, it took some alcohol out of his system. 

Rex put on his leather jacket, and picked up Emmet’s helmet. Rex put it on, as a way to take it easily. Rex unlocked his bike, and drove off. He, too, was going above the speed limit, trying to catch up with Emmet. 

Emmet was driving faster than ever, and wasn’t worried about a crash at all. At an intersection, he was convinced that he would make it. 

Rex drove at the max speed he could go, making it easy to catch up with Emmet. He saw the young man trying to pass an intersection, and knew that a car was going to hit him.

As Emmet drove through, Rex’s predictions were about to come to reality. Right in the nick of time, Rex’s bike was right next to Emmet’s. 

Without a word, Rex pressed a secret button on the side of Emmet’s bike that made his bike go top speed in an instant. Emmet was almost knocked back by the sudden force, but he held on with all his life. Emmet pressed the small button again and thankfully, his bike slowed down. 

Emmet got off, and looked back, hoping Rex also went top speed. Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

While Rex activated top speed for Emmet, he didn’t have enough time to activate his. The upcoming car hit him directly. Rex went flying across the roads, and his body hit the sidewalk pavement. Rex’s bike and the car’s front were almost beyond repair, but they were still repairable. 

However, Emmet feared that Rex wasn’t “repairable.” 

Emmet left his bike, and ran towards his boyfriend. He checked his pulse, and was so thankful that he was still alive. Sure, Rex was unconscious, but he was still alive. 

Finally, he let the tears pour. He cried like never before. 

Other people got out of their cars, and called an ambulance. The driver of the car that Rex hit was extremely drunk, so in case Emmet or Rex got sued, he could use that as a defense. The driver was passed out, with shards of glass cut into his hands. Some people went to go help the driver, while some people came to help Rex. 

Rex’s condition was horrible. His cheek and arm was bleeding, since they were scraped across the rough floor. Blood dripped out of his mouth, and he had a thick glass shard stuck in his abdominal region. Cuts and blood was just all around his body. 

Emmet held Rex close, not allowing anyone else to try and help the hurt man. He stayed bawling his eyes out until the ambulance arrived. He held Rex’s hand as the paramedics moved him inside the ambulance.

During the whole ride, Emmet was just thankful that he had health and car insurance. He and Rex would surely deal with legal crap, but Emmet figured that Rex would know more than he did.

Rex, still being a manipulative type, would most definitely prevent any jail time.

\-- 

Rex woke up with a killer headache, and aching pain in his abdominal region. His eyelids were heavy, so he opened his eyes slightly. He was confused for a good 5 minutes, until he saw the door open. Well, more like heard the door open, but he could tell someone walked in, even with blurry vision. The whole room was white, and he heard this extremely annoying beeping sound.

Great. A hospital.

Rex sat up the best he possibly could, and the least amount of pain he could cause to himself.  
His hangover wasn’t any help either.

He rubbed his eyes, and could feel that his eye was bruised. A sharp pain struck around his eye, and he stopped rubbing.

Rex was about to get a good look on who just entered the room quietly, but before he could, he felt a warm body around him. Specifically, hugging him. 

Whoever was hugging him, Rex enjoyed the embrace.

His once tense body slowly relaxed, until he felt a pinch on his back. He yelped in pain.

“You have a lot to explain, Dangervest.” Rex heard as the pain from the pinch became sharper.

The person stopped hugging him, and stood up. 

“E-emmet?” Rex asked, feeling worried. His facial features showed pain, which worried Rex more.

The younger man looked away from his boyfriend. He wanted to ask so many questions from last night. Instead, he just teared up. He sat on a small chair, next to the hospital bed. 

Emmet just wanted to yell at Rex. He wanted to break up with him. At the same time, Emmet wanted to know everything. He wanted to cuddle with Rex, and know that Rex truly loved him.

“Ems, I’m sorry.” Rex softly said, breaking the silence.  
Emmet had his arm resting on the chair’s armrest. He felt a warm handover his own. 

He looked at Rex with mourning eyes.  
“Why Rex, why her?” Emmet pleaded to know, a tear finally dropping from his eye.  
“Why drink? Why all the lying?”

Rex was full of guilt, and hesitated to respond. He sighed heavily. He couldn’t look Emmet directly in his eyes, shame holding him back.

“I was drunk as hell, Emmet. My vision was a mess. She looked like you. I missed you so much, and I thought she was you. I made my move, like I do with you. My dumb ass genuinly th-thought it was y-you. I cleared m-my head, and f-felt so embarrassed.” Rex stuttered as he finished. He felt his eyes water up. 

He sobbed, and, trembling, he held Emmet’s hand. 

“I drink because it’s my only way of coping with pain. I know you want me to talk to you, but I don’t want to bother you with my problems. I know they make you sad, so I bottle it up.”

Emmet finally looked at Rex. Tears were running down his cheeks. It pained Rex to see his cheerful boyfriend cry. Rex felt even guiltier. He wished he could hug Emmet, and caress him. 

Emmet looked directly into Rex’s eyes. He could see that he was telling the truth. Rex would only cry when he admitted something from the heart, and when describing in full detail, all the pain he felt. Emmet saw Rex’s cheeks, traced with tear trails.

“Emmet… I would never cheat on you on purpose. I love you too much. I hate hurting you…” Rex whispered.

Emmet relaxed at his words, “Please, be honest with me… Also, forgive me Rex. I shouldn’t have held up such barriers for you. I just-”

Rex cut him off, “You just wanted to protect me, dear. Don’t feel bad.”

“I’m acting the way Lucy did… I’m… trying to change you…” Emmet told himself, dread building up inside. 

Rex cringed at hearing Lucy’s name.

Emmet threw himself into Rex’s arms, sobbing, “I’m so sorry!!!”

Rex yelped again, since Emmet hit his stomach.  
He held his stomach pain in, and caressed Emmet’s hair.  
“At least you didn’t truly change me like she did.’’ Rex solemnly whispered.

“But I was heading down that path…” Emmet whimpered.

“Don’t worry Ems. I forgive you.” Rex comforted.

“So do I,” Emmet smiled softly.  
“I take off all my restrictions. Just… promise me that you won’t keep lying to me…”

Rex softly lifted Emmet’s head up to meet his gaze. 

“I promise, Emmet.”


End file.
